The present invention pertains to the art of footwear and, more particularly, to providing a pair of shoes with a position indicator assembly for signaling when the pair of shoes are properly aligned or matched for use.
It is not uncommon for young children to either incorrectly match shoes or, even if a pair of shoes is correctly matched, place the shoes on the wrong feet. That is, for visual or other reasons, young children, and even occasionally some adults, can have difficulty correctly identifying the right and left shoes of a pair of shoes, resulting in a right shoe being placed on a left foot and a left shoe being placed on a right foot. Often, it is another person, such as a mother, father, friend or even a stranger, who points out the error of the individual. Although certainly helpful in correcting the mistake, the knowledge can actually be embarrassing.
To avoid this situation, it has been proposed in the art to provide a pair of shoes with additional structure to verify to an individual that a particular pair of shoes are properly aligned. For instance, it has been proposed to place matching, partial emblems on right and left shoe pairs wherein, when the pair of shoes is properly aligned, the partial emblems combine to form a complete emblem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,888 discloses providing partial images in the form of mirror image half-hearts or half-stars on the toe portions of right and left shoes such that, when the two shoes are correctly aligned and placed in contact with one another at the toe portions, a complete heart or star is illustrated, thereby signaling to the wearer that the shoes are properly positioned for use. In another exemplary arrangement represented by U.S. Pat. No. 7,246,455, the toe portions of a matching pair of shoes are provided with part of an electrical switch such that, when the toe portions abut each other, the switch is engaged and closed to complete an electrical circuit and present an audible or visual indication to the individual that the shoes are properly aligned.
Although these known arrangements attempt to solve the issue at hand, a rather precision alignment is required in order for a suitable alignment indication to be conveyed. In particular, although the electrical embodiment is seen to be a considerable improvement over the emblem arrangement, the need to provide direct pressure to the switch can create significant functional concerns. This limitation can actually result in the individual failing to receive a signal even when the shoes are properly aligned. With this in mind, there is still seen to be a need in the art for a shoe pair with a position indicator assembly which does not require such a precision alignment of a matched right and left shoe pair and, even more specifically, can convey to the individual that a matched pair of shoes are properly aligned without requiring portions of the shoes to engage one another but rather even when the shoes are actually arranged a predetermined, spaced distance from each other.